Townsend sure Henry is worth a rapid return
GLASGOW Warriors head coach Gregor townsend believes henry Pyrgos fully deserves to be fast-tracked into the Scotland squad for Sunday’s Six nations meeting with France, despite playing just 60 minutes of competitive rugby this season.
the scrum-half’s hour of action came in his comeback game against Cardiff Blue sat Scotstoun last Sunday, following five months out following surgery on his injured wrist.
the 26-year-old had not played since he captained his country in the World Cup win over the USA in Leeds back in September.
But it is an indication of how much Scotland head coach Vern Cotter rates the 17-time capped Pyrgos that he finds himself back in the squad so soon after returning to fitness.
his recall doesn’t surprise townsend, however.
‘to be out of the game for five months since the World Cup and to come back like that was outstanding,’ said the Warriors head coach.
‘henry really added tempo to our game and made the right decisions over where and when to attack. the players followed his lead and he was involved in helping us get a couple of cracking tries.
‘that was his 100th game for us when he played against Cardiff at the weekend, and he was stuck on 99 dating back to our Pro12 play-off championship win in the final club match of last season, so it was great to have him back.’
his return to the international fold is likely to be bad news for edinburgh no 9 Sam hidalgo-Clyne, who was understudy to Greig Laidlaw in Scotland’s first three Six nations matches.
there was a reluctance on Cotter’s part to give him game time, with the luckless hidalgo-Clyne not getting off the bench against england or Italy and only receiving three minutes as a replacement against Wales.
that was hardly a vote of confidence and is likely to leave the door open for the much more experienced Pyrgos to take his spot among the replacements.
two other Glasgow Warriors — centre Alex Dunbar and hooker Fraser Brown — have also been called into the Scotland fold.
Dunbar was part of the original Six nations training squad named ahead of the tournament, but a thigh strain sustained against Racing 92 i n the european Champions Cup kept him out of the first three matches.
Since returning to fitness, Dunbar has played in his club’s Guinness Pro12 wins over Dragons and Cardiff Blues, scoring on his return in newport.
he has been in such great form since his comeback that Cotter has to decide whether to start him, Mark Bennett or Peter horne in the centre alongside Duncan taylor.
the other contender, Matt Scott, picked up an elbow injury in edinburgh’s loss to Connacht on Friday and remains a major doubt. Brown — who takes the place of edinburgh Rugby hooker George turner in the extended 36-strong Six nations training squad, f rom which London Irish pair Blair Cowan and Sean Maitland are still missing — made his comeback against the Dragons and Cardiff after an ankle injury and it is between hi m a nd Stuart McInally t o be named as understudy to Ross Ford.
Also back i n the squad is Duncan Weir, who did not feature in the win over Italy.
the Glasgow stand-off, who will move to edinburgh at the end of the season, returns to the squad in good form after a man- of-thematch performance in Warriors’ 27-20 win over Cardiff on Sunday.
‘You know the Scotland coaches are going to be watching, but you just have to play well and hope things come your way,’ said Weir.
‘It is their call if I am involved or not and I can only play when the chances come my way.’ BACKS: M Bennett, A Dunbar, G Hart (Glasgow), S Hidalgo-Clyne (Edinburgh), S Hogg (Glasgow), R Jackson (Wasps), P Horne (Glasgow), G Laidlaw, captain (Gloucester), S Lamont (Glasgow), D Taylor (Saracens), H Pyrgos, F Russell (Glasgow), M Scott (Edinburgh), T Seymour (Glasgow), T Visser (Harlequins), D Weir (Edinburgh).
SCOTLAND SQUAD: FORWARDS: J Barclay (Scarlets), F Brown (Glasgow), D Denton (Bath), A Dickinson (Edinburgh), Z Fagerson (Glasgow), R Ford (Edinburgh), J Gray (Glasgow), R Gray (Castres), J Hardie (Edinburgh), R Harley (Glasgow), M Low (Exeter Chiefs), S McInally, W Nel (Edinburgh), G Reid, J Strauss (Glasgow), R Sutherland (Edinburgh), T Swinson (Glasgow), B Toolis, H Watson (Edinburgh), R Wilson (Glasgow).